On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:52:56 +0100, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> ____/ Kier on Thursday 06 September 2007 18:15 : \____
>
>> On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:02:39 +0100, Mark Kent wrote:
>>
>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>> ____/ Mark Kent on Thursday 06 September 2007 12:56 : \____
>>>>
>>>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>>>> Microsoft Paid Lobbyist $160,000
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>>>>| Microsoft Paid Paid Bingham McCutchen $160,000 to Lobby Federal Gov't in
>>>>>>| First Half of 2007
>>>>>> `----
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070905/microsoft_lobbying.html?.v=1
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> And we still allow this to happen? This is outrageous, and has no place
>>>>> in a real democracy, or, for that matter, a constitutional monarchy.
>>>>
>>>> Exactly! Finally, someone who agrees that this is a disgusting and
>>>> anti-democratic practise (only made legal by those who lobby in favour of
>>>> lobbying, or those paying lawmakers to write the law). It's shredding
>>>> democracy to pieces. One must wonder how much of that $160,000 (for 6
>>>> months) Bingham McCutchen just tossed onto some senator's bank account.
>>>> Heck. He may have bought Mr. Senator a session with a dozen hookers.
>>>>
>>>> As Ghost says, welcome to the New World Order.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Oh, I've been worried about lobbying for a few years now, I'm merely
>>> becoming ever more concerned that it's destroying what was a vibrant
>>> democracy.
>>>
>>> Perhaps we need a move to PR to put a stop to this kind of thing? If
>>> our governments were more representative of the views of the populous,
>>> then maybe they'd be taken more seriously by the population at large.
>>> On the other hand, since most people seem to watch east enders, pop
>>> idol, big brother and so on, maybe we could have Stalin running things
>>> and nobody would notice. Or a horse, maybe. Oh yeah, the yanks have
>>> Bush, and nobody seems to have noticed...
>>
>> If that tinfoil hat of yours was any tighter, you'd suffocate. Come back
>> down to Earth for a while, man, and maybe the oxygen will revive your
>> common-sense.
>
> You're either in denial or fooled if you feel this way. This isn't anything new
> (the corruption at the top), but the proportion of it (and the visibility that
> the Internet gives it) cannot be ignored. All this corruption is a case of
> stealing for the benefit of the wealthy. It's also a matter of restriction and
> punishment, which is why Free software is so crucial to the digital age we're
> entering.
People who look for conspiracies see them everywhere. Sure, there's
corrution and wrong-doing around, but it's not nearly as all-invasaive as
you seem to think.
--
Kier
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